; I Like You

     Zhang Yixing didn’t quite comprehend what had happened to him but now he finds himself walking around the whole crowd of South Korea in a small city called Sincheon when yesterday, he was still in China – speaking Chinese, having Chinese friends, being Chinese – The only thing he really remembers is an important call his parents received yesterday from a representative in the most prestigious high school in Seoul, South Korea about getting accepted for a scholarship (for another country, that is.) However, his parents were too excited that they packed his bags for him, sent him to the airport with a quick kiss on the cheeks. And now, he just wonders whether his parents just wanted to get him out of the house. But right now, it was now or never. He was in South Korea with Korean people around him. 

      “Now..I just have to figure out how to get to the school..” Yixing says to himself quietly, looking around the city. There were small vendors on the sides selling a variety of snacks and there were also people playing instruments such as guitars and some people were even singing and dancing with a crowd applauding in amusement. “It’s so different from China.” He tells himself with a slight twitch of his eyebrows before walking over inside a convenience store and picking up a bag of barbecue chips. After he pays for the chips at the counter with his credit card (that his parents fortunately gave to him before he went inside the plane), he bows to the lady on the counter before pushing the transparent glass door and exiting out. 

    “Where do I go now..” Yixing questions himself silently, digging out a handful of barbecue chips from the bag. Jutting his bottom lip out a bit, he takes another few steps on the sidewalk, eyes trailing aimlessly around his surroundings. Few minutes later, he finds his mouth getting dry and so he buys a bottle of water and drank it all in one motion. Puffing his cheeks out a bit, Yixing takes a seat down on an empty bench with his lips forming into a small pout. South Korea was more different than he had expected and China was where he had grew up in so he knew that everything was going to be difficult for him, but he’ll have to get used to it somehow. 

       Standing up, he proceeded on his trip around Sincheon until about 15 minutes later when his legs were all tired up. And so, he takes another break for a couple of minutes on an empty white bench at a park engulfed with beautiful flowers everywhere and a big cherry blossom tree. Detaching his backpack from his back, he then slips out his favorite romance novel and begins to read it thoughtfully. Trying to stifle a yawn, Yixing flips the book to the next page, only to emit another yawn. However, a few feet away, he notices a girl with straight black hair wearing a white polka dotted dress that stopped perfectly on her knees. Dazed, Yixing closes the book shut and finds himself staring at the mystical girl. 

     “She’s so pretty.” Yixing gapes, placing the hard covered novel on his lap. Squinting, he came upon a realization that the girl had three yellow roses on her hand. Yixing then wonders what the flowers were for but he keeps his curious thoughts for the best. As he sees the girl walking away with the triple roses on her hands, Yixing immediately slings his backpack on his back and leaps up from his seat, almost running towards the girl. 

        Few more minutes went by, Yixing finds himself hiding behind a wall while peeking out at the girl whom he sees distributing candies to the children – they – she was passing by. Arching an eyebrow in perplexity, Yixing sees the girl smiling at a little 5 year old boy and for some reason, his lips curved into the side. Her smile is so dazzling, Yixing thinks to himself, the smile on his face never departing. Then suddenly, the girl takes a few steps away again, causing Yixing to follow her instinctively. As the girl keeps on handing candies to the children around, Yixing wipes the sweat dripping down from his head, panting in the process. 

          As the girl turns around, Yixing immediately hides behind a taller man, resulting the man to stare at him with a dirty look that somehow turned into a frustrated one. Yixing quickly grins at him awkwardly before proceeding on trailing behind the girl. He then notices the girl walking inside a convenience store thus, he follows her again. He then starts to question himself why he’s actually following a girl he doesn’t even know, but his instincts still urges him to do so. And with that, he glances at the girl a few feet away from him, looking around curiously, resulting Yixing to stare at her momentarily and smile at how adorable she was, only to turn away when she turns her head suspiciously to look at him. He then randomly picks up a pack of chocolate, paying for it in the cashier. 

     As the girl walks out of the store with a plastic bag filled with delicious snacks inside it, Yixing quickly follows her while his lips forms into another pout at how tired his legs were. Abruptly halting his tracks, Yixing leans firmly against a cemented wall, releasing a sigh as he glances at the beautiful girl, handing another candy to a random little girl. I wonder why she’s doing that, Yixing inquires himself with an arched eyebrow, staring at the girl again. And once again, the girl proceeds on her way, making Yixing let out a muffled groan as he trails behind her again. Why do I feel like a stalker, Yixing questions himself again. 

             Trailing stealthily behind the mystical girl, Yixing then stops his track behind a big tree as the girl stops in front of an orphanage (as what Yixing assumed), bringing the three yellow roses up her nose and smelling the fresh fragrance with a gorgeous smile. Yixing glances at her with a curious expression, wondering why she was smelling the roses on her hand. However, she makes her way inside the door, the three yellow roses still on her grasp and the plastic bag filled with various snacks hanging on her other hand. Yixing then somehow follows after her tracks again, looking around and seeing numerous children playing around cheerfully. 

       When he walks around the room, he instantly spots the girl – he has been following for the lasts 20 minutes – sitting down on the light pink carpeted floor in front of a bunch of children who were sitting around in a circle. With a smile on her face, the girl immediately gives each of the children some yummy snacks as a beam filled with gratitude enlightening up on their faces. Yixing couldn’t help but beam at the sweet sight as well. 

     “Thank you, Soojung-unnie!” One of the little girls’ cheered, taking a bite of the chocolate on her hand. So, Soojung is her name, Yixing mentally notes. Plastering a sweet smile on her face, Soojung says, “You’re very welcome, Mae. It’s the least I can do to make you guys happy.” 

    Yixing meanders his eyes around again, not knowing what he was supposed to do right at the moment. As he sees the girl standing up, he immediately ponders whether to follow her or not, but after a good thinking, he then decides not to since the children and everybody else would be weirded out. Walking over to a random corner, Yixing finds himself wandering around cluelessly, touching the green, leafy plants he had went by, only to find out that they were actually plastic afterwards. 

          “May I help you?” Yixing hears a soothing female voice behind him as he immediately turns around, only to see the mystical yet gorgeous girl he had been following for about a half an hour now. He flinches, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “Ah..well..ye..no.” Yixing stammers, his heart fluttering nervously. Soojung lets out a small chuckle before giving him a quick nod in return. “Oh, alright. I’ll have to go do something right now.” She informs with a small smile, only causing Yixing to extend his curiousness. 

      “Oh um, I have one question..” Yixing tells her with a small embarrassed smile. Giving the adorable male a genuine beam, she then nods in response. “Well uh..I’m just wondering why you’re holding three yellow roses in your hand. I mean, not that it’s not a bad thing. It’s most definitely not.” Yixing adds, causing Soojung to look at him deeply momentarily but then sends him a nod afterwards. 

“You want to know why I’m holding these three yellow roses?” Soojung questions rather nicely, bringing up the three yellow roses on her hand. 

Nodding, Yixing replies, “I do. And it’s not a bad thing, like definitely not. I’m just curious.” Yixing comments in response again, not understanding why he was feeling so nervous. Giving the curious male a sweet smile, Soojung says, “Then, come with me.” She looks at Yixing gesturing him a small suggestive smile as Yixing gladly nods in return. 

Yixing and Soojung stops in front of an empty vase, causing Yixing’s curiousness to expand considerably even more. Soojung glances at Yixing with a light smile before settling the three yellow roses inside the vase gently before turning his head around to look at Yixing and shrugging her shoulders with an innocent beam. Yixing eyes her confused, raising an eyebrow. 

   “I buy roses to put in this vase for the children to look at. I always do that. There’s really nothing much to see for the kids inside this orphanage.” Soojung explains, her eyes scanning around the almost empty room, the plastic plants as an exception. “I see. That’s very nice of you,” Yixing finds himself smiling at her, happy that she was in front of him. “Do you somehow work here or have some kind of connection with this orphanage?” Out of his utter curiousness, Yixing decided to let out his question. 

        “Well, I..I’ve experienced the childrens’ lives. I lived here before ever since I was 2 years old when my parents thought they couldn’t raise me so they had to toss me here, but that was only what Mrs. Lee told me before. But, I have my own apartment now. However, I frequently visit here to give the children some snacks and stuff like that. It’s great.” Soojung explains thoroughly, a serene beam plastering on her face. Yixing somehow looked at her with an amused yet warm expression. 

     “I’m so sorry..” Yixing says with a concerned expression on his face, making Soojung release a deep sigh and smiles at him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m totally fine. Anyways, mind telling me why you were following me the whole way?” Soojung grins brightly at an incredulous looking Yixing with his mouth gaping as he stares at Soojung. 

   “You – You noticed that?” Yixing questions in surprise, not capable of believing that Soojung actually realized that he was following her which leads to him feeling utterly embarrassed. “Of course. The constant panting in the background gave it all away.” Soojung chuckles once again, wiggling her eyebrows at Yixing. Smiling sheepishly, Yixing scratches the back of his head while uttering out, “Well, you know..I was..and you were..well uh..you know..” Scavenging for the right words, Yixing just couldn’t resist the innocent smile plastering on the gorgeous girl’s face in front of him. 

        “You’re really cute, you know that, right?” Soojung questions with a soft chortle. On the other hand, Yixing’s soft cheeks developed into a light shade of pink due to blushing. “Uh, thank you..” He tells her rather cutely as Soojung finds it. “You’re very welcome. It’s true, anyways.” Soojung adds with a light shrug, earning another one of Yixing’s signature smile. 

      Then, Yixing suddenly came upon a realization. “Uh, is it okay if I give the children something? While I was following you in the convenience store, I sort of bought a pack of chocolate.” Yixing plasters an innocent grin on his face, somewhat still nervous. Rolling her eyes playfully, Soojung replies, “Sure, thing. The children loves chocolates, but don’t let them be overdosed with it.” And with that, Yixing nods happily, walking over to the cheerful looking children playing a variety of games such as tagging, hide and seek, and more. 

            As Soojung stands in front of the doorway, she finds herself watching Yixing as he plays along with the children and honor them with the chocolates as their prizes. Soojung emits a chuckle at the sight of Yixing being all sweet with the children which leads her to wonder how great would be he as a father to his own children one day. Then, her thoughts suddenly came to a stop when Yixing gestures her to come to him with a sweet smile on his face. And with that, she gladly walks up to him while letting out a soft chuckle. 

      Later that day, Soojung and Yixing walks outside the orphanage with sweet smiles on their faces. They were happy that the children in the orphanage were having a lot of fun especially Soojung since she has never seen the children this happy for so long and to think that Yixing was the secret weapon for those happiness after all. In other words, the children loved him. 

“Look, I really want to tell you something.” Yixing says nervously, blinking a few times. 

“Is something wrong?” Soojung questions, confusion written all over his face. 

“Um..Listen, I really don’t know whether I should say this right now..but..I really like you.” Yixing looks at her with a serene smile, his nervous expression make its appearance on his face. “Wait..you don’t even know my name but you already like me?” Soojung chuckles at him which immediately changes into a warm beam. “Well, you know..” Yixing smiles nervously again, his face flushed. Before Yixing could utter out any other word, Soojung stands in her tiptoes, giving the male a quick kiss on the cheeks. 

“I like you too..um..” Soojung looks at Yixing questionably, not actually knowing his name. 

“Yixing.”

Smiling, Soojung takes Yixing’s hand and shifts her head up, smiling at him endearingly. “Jung Soojung.” 

  “Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl.” Yixing compliments, resulting Soojung’s cheeks to transform into a crimson red color. “So, will you be my girlfriend?” Yixing questions, looking at Soojung with a daring beam. Soojung’s expression turns warmly serious as she looks at Yixing’s eyes deeply. 

       “Yixing, I want to make you a promise.” She informs with a serene smile forming on her face as she squeezes Yixing’s hand gently. “A promise? What is it?” Yixing asks, curiosity written all over his face. Squeezing his hand gently again and her signature smile on his face, she says, “If we meet again, I’ll say yes to your question.”

—

1 day later

—

        Heaving a sigh of disappointment, Yixing rolls his eyes in an irritated manner. He had just gotten dismissed from the first day of his new school in Seoul which was rougly difficult like all first days. He finds himself crossing the road, walking over inside the coffee shop right across the school. Pushing the transparent glass door, he enters inside while letting out another deep sigh. He plops down on an empty chair in an empty table, burying his head on his palm. He still was worried about Soojung and the promise she had made. He wasn’t even sure that they’ll meet again which causes him to keep worrying even more. He liked – no, scratch that; love – Soojung. 

          “Excuse me, sir? How may I help you?” Arching an eyebrow, Yixing involuntarily recognizes the female voice. Slowly looking up at the waitress, his eyes widens in surprise as he sees Soojung whose eyes also widens in surprise to see Yixing. 

     “Soojung? Is that you?” Yixing asks in disbelief, immediately pulling Soojung into a warm embrace. “Considering that you hugged me, yes Yixing, it is me.” Soojung chuckles cutely, feeling slightly dizzy at how Yixing was literally spinning her around in happiness. Soojung shakes her head playfully, smiling at Yixing sweetly. 

    “Yixing, I didn’t know I’d meet you here again. I forgot to tell you that I work here and go back to Sincheon every afternoon.” Soojung says, her smile never seemed to be leaving her face. However, Yixing was more happy than ever. 

  “This is fate, Soojung. So..how about that promise yesterday, huh?” Yixing wiggles his eyebrows with a playful grin, a rather adorable smile on his face. 

          “Yes, Yixing. I’ll be your girlfriend.” Soojung replies sweetly, receiving an affectionate yet heart-filled kiss from the cute lovely stalker, Yixing. 

Hello! First of all, I'm really sorry for updating your request like - I don't know, 4 or 5 days later? I apologize :(( I hope you like this one-shot! :D It's already 5am here and I'm really sleepy :(( This was supposed to be finished like 3 hours ago or something, but I got really distracted – by the Television – Anyways, feel free to comment down below what you thought of this chapter! Thank you for requesting~ :DD Also, I'm really sorry about this not really portraying I Like You that much - I tried~ But just so you know, I really love that song! :) I think I could've done better with this but my sleepiness received it's victory, yep.